US Democrats abandon Obama's embrace of TPP

Presidential challengers talk tough on China, but stay silent on free trade

20190801N Joe Biden

Former Vice President Joe Biden, at the Democratic presidential debate in the U.S. city of Detroit, said he would not rejoin the TPP trade deal in its current form. © Reuters

MARRIAN ZHOU, Nikkei staff writer

NEW YORK -- If world leaders were wondering whether a Democrat in the White House would reverse U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policies and return them closer to those of former President Barack Obama, they received a rude awakening.

The second set of Democratic primary debates concluded Wednesday, with hardly any of the 20 candidates calling for free trade or speaking of the merits of globalism.

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